26. Pocahontas- 1995

Rating: 🔥 that’s hot

Since the synopsis of Disney’s Pocahontas erases many problematic and true parts of history, I’m going to skip that and just say what this movie got right, and what it got wrong.

WHAT POCAHONTAS GOT RIGHT:

The music and animation are stunning. This is the most beautiful animation I’ve seen from Disney since 1959’s Sleeping Beauty. The color story and the way that the animators brought nature literally to life is breathtaking and this movie would be wildly different if they’d taken a different stylistic approach. The score and soundtrack by @alanmenken have some of my all-time favorite Disney songs like Just Around the River Bend and Colors of the Wind which won the Academy Award for best original song. Pocahontas also gives us a strong female lead who is following the beat of her own drum while still trying to find her place in her tribe.

WHAT POCAHONTAS GOT WRONG:

While this plot is amazing for a Disney movie, it couldn’t be further from the truth of what happened. To romanticize colonialism and genocide, and to silence the voice of Native Americans and not allow their story (the real story) to be told is simply not okay and I don’t believe you could ever get a movie like this made again today because it’s so damn problematic. As an American with Alaskan Native heritage it breaks my heart that we still have so far to go still to see authentic Native American narratives on screen. As a white child of the 90’s who remembers Pocahontas as one of the first Disney movies I ever saw, I think this magical movie should be praised for what it got right, but never be overlooked for what it got wrong.